Elizabeth Marshall (cook)
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Elizabeth Marshall was a cook who ran a patisserie and cookery school in
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
between 1770 and about 1790. She is the author of ''The Young Ladies' Guide in the Art of Cookery'', subtitled ''being a Collection of useful Receipts, Published for the Convenience of the Ladies committed to her Care, by Eliz. Marshall''. Her ''Art of Cookery'' was printed by Thomas Saint, printer of wood engravings by
Thomas Bewick Thomas Bewick (c. 11 August 1753 – 8 November 1828) was an English wood engraving, wood-engraver and natural history author. Early in his career he took on all kinds of work such as engraving cutlery, making the wood blocks for advertisements, ...
as well as the printer and publisher of the Newcastle Courant, a forerunner of The Journal and the
Evening Chronicle The ''Evening Chronicle'', now referred to in print as ''The Chronicle'', is a daily newspaper produced in Newcastle upon Tyne covering North regional news, but primarily focused on Newcastle upon Tyne and surrounding area. The ''Evening Chronic ...
. Marshall was born in Swarland or Felton,
Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...
in 1738 and was christened in St. Michael & All Angels Church on 15 February that year. Her cookery school occupied premises in Mosley Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, and census records show her moving to a neighbouring shop where she paid £10 3s 6d in rateable value. Saint's printing press was also located in Mosley Street. ''The Art of Cookery'' is notable for its inclusion of recipes requiring expensive imported ingredients such as truffles,
morels ''Morchella'', the true morels, is a genus of edible sac fungi closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi in the order Pezizales ( division Ascomycota). These distinctive fungi have a honeycomb appearance due to the network of ridges w ...
, pineapples and lemons, which Marshall used in large quantities: her recipe for ''The Power of Lemons'', a concentrated lemon essence, begins with the words Take 100 Lemons. This recipe, which implies knowledge of the properties of lemons in preventing scurvy, does not appear in any of the other cookery books from the 18th century. Her book is exceptional in using truffles, which were not standard fare for the late 18th century. Only Patrick Lamb in 1710 and
Alexis Soyer Alexis Benoît Soyer (4 February 1810 – 5 August 1858) was a French chef, writer and inventor, who made his reputation in Victorian England. Born in north-east France, Soyer trained as a chef in Paris, and quickly built a career that was bro ...
in 1846 included truffles in their recipes.
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (; 2 April 1755 – 2 February 1826) was a French lawyer and politician, who, as the author of ''Physiologie du goût'' (''The Physiology of Taste''), became celebrated for his culinary reminiscences and reflect ...
wrote in 1815 that truffles were found only on the tables of the very wealthy or that of the mistress of a wealthy man. The book throws light on 18th century cooking practices. For example, Marshall advocated removing salt from butter by washing it in
Rose water Rose water, or rosewater, is a flavoured water created by steeping rose petals in water. It is typically made as a by-product during the distillation of rose petals to create rose oil for perfumes. Rose water is widely utilized to flavour cu ...
, making it more palatable for the cheesecakes, puddings and sweet pastries she taught her pupils to prepare. She also used the technique of using a feather to clear the seeds from jellies. This method is still used today for Bar-le-duc jelly.


Contents


Preface

''To the YOUNG LADIES who have done me the Honour of attending my School.'' ''LADIES'', ''It is at your urgent and frequently repeated request that the following Receipts have at length come abroad. – You were sensible of the necessity of having an assistance of this sort to your memory; and the difficulty as well as expense of procuring the Receipts in manuscript, suggested the present form as the most proper and convenient for answering your intentions. – I hope this will be considered as a sufficient apology for the design. For its execution I have less to say. – The subject does not admit of elegance of expression, though I acknowledge the language might have been more correct. It was my wish to have rendered it so, but the various other duties in which I am engaged, would not allow me leisure sufficient for the purpose. – Such as the work is, I hope it will be received with candour, and consulted with advantage''. ''I am'', ''LADIES'', ''With much Respect'' ''Your most obliged Servant,'' ''E. MARSHALL'' ''LOW BRIDGE,'' ''Newcastle''.


Chapter headings

The book comprises chapters on cakes, puddings, pies, pickles, preserves, creams and custards, fish and seafood (including salmon, lobster and oysters), meat (including veal, beef tenderloin and venison), soups, sauces, poultry (including chicken, goose, turkey and partridge), and wines and essences. It also contains an index.


Releves/Bills of fare

Menu suggestions are included, with diagrams showing how the dishes should be arranged on the table.


References

W. Carew Hazlitt's ''Old Cookery Books''. WorldCat Oxford Companion to Food Waitrose Online: Old Flames - British cooks and cookery writers of great repute


External links


Saint Michael and All Angels Church, Felton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Elizabeth English food writers English chefs English women chefs English women non-fiction writers 1738 births Year of death missing English cookbook writers British women food writers History of British cuisine